The Layman's Breviary; or, Meditations for Every Day of the Year. From the German of Leopold Schefer. By C. T. Brooks. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 16mo. pp. 452.

The Life of God in the Soul of Man. Boston: Nichols & Noyes. 18mo. pp. 128.

The Duty and the Discipline of Extemporary Preaching. By F. Barham Zincke, Vicar of Wherstead, and Chaplain in ordinary to the Queen. New York: Charles Scribner & Co. 12mo. pp. 262.

Short Studies for Sunday-school Teachers. By Charles S. Robinson, D.D. New York: Wynkoop & Sherwood. 16mo. pp. 247.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

History of the United Netherlands, from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve-Years' Truce, 1609. By John Lothrop Motley. New York: Harper & Brothers. Vols. III., IV. pp. 599, 632.

(These two volumes, just received, close the earlier portion of Mr. Motley's extended History, and are to be followed by the Thirty-Years' War. They bring the narrative down to the virtual establishment of the independence of the Netherlands, though, in form, it was only a truce sought by the Spanish monarchy, and reluctantly granted by the victorious States. The present volumes are as full of interest, life, vigor, incident, as their predecessors. They tell the early victories of Maurice; the critical but triumphant campaign of Nieuport; the exploits of the heroic Dutch adventurers in the Polar and Indian seas; the rapid successes of that chivalrous volunteer, Spinola; the marvellous commercial prosperity of the States during their forty-years' desperate struggle for independence; and the long negotiations, so nearly broken off by Spanish bad faith, through which the terms of peace were finally established. But still more interesting is the picture given of the last days, the character, and reign of Philip the Second, that "perfectly bad king," who stuck at no perfidy or cruelty, who plotted murder stealthily for years, broke faith with all that trusted him, and died at last in the tortures and the serenity of a sainted martyr; of the sceptic, heartless, profligate Henry of Navarre, whom a strange fortune made the preux chevalier of the Huguenots, the betrayer of their faith, the illustrious convert and "eldest son" of the Roman Church, as soon as the wages of his conversion was the assured crown of France; of the vacillating, dastardly policy of James, whom only the terror of the "Gunpowder Plot" deterred from betraying the heroic Protestant republic to his insane craving for the Spanish alliance; and of the beginnings of the fatal estrangement between Maurice and Barneveld, both true patriots and brave men, both serving their country with equal intrepidity and zeal, but divided by differences, first of military policy, then as to the graver question of peace and war, and finally of religious creed. The closing pages of this noble work sum up the lessons of the long struggle which it has narrated, and prepare the way for the story of that

VOL. LXXXIV. - NEW SERIES, VOL. V. NO. II.

22

still gloomier tragedy, enacted on a far broader stage, which is soon, we trust, to follow.)

Landmarks of History. Part III. Modern History, from the beginning of the Reformation to the accession of Napoleon III. By Miss Yonge. Edited by Edith L. Chase. New York: Leypolt & Holt. 12mo. pp. 465. Life of Maximilian I., late Emperor of Mexico; with a Sketch of the Empress Carlotta. By Frederic Hall, one of his Majesty's legal advisers. With Portraits and Illustrations. New York: James Miller. pp. 317. (This volume seems to be full and authentic in its narrative of events, making a timely and very interesting contribution to current history and memoir. It is warmly eulogistic in tone, almost feudal in its sentiment of homage towards the unfortunate monarch, somewhat florid and diffuse in style. It effectually answers many prejudices, and gives one a very high estimate of the personal accomplishments, the purity of intention, the uprightness, humanity, and devotion to the public welfare, which met so tragical an end.)

The History of Israel to the Death of Moses. By Heinrich Ewald. Translated from the German. Edited, with a Preface, by Russell Martineau. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 8vo. pp. 656. (To be reviewed.)

NOVELS AND TALES.

The Huguenot Family. By Sarah Tytler. New York: Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 399.

The Brother's Bet; or, Within Six Weeks. By Emilie Flygare Carlen. New York: Harper & Brothers. 8vo. pp. 103.

The Clifford Household. By J. F. Moore.

16mo.

pp. 308.

Elsie Dinsmore. By Martha Farquhasson. 16mo. pp. 288.

The Little Fox; or, the Story of Captain Sir F. L. M'Clintock's Arctic Expedition. Written for the Young. By S. T., Esq. New York: M. W. Dodd. 18mo. pp. 198.

Folks and Fairies. Stories for Little. Children. By Lucy Randall Comfort. With Engravings. Square 16mo. pp. 259.

Playing for High Stakes. A Novel. By Annie Thomas. New York: Harper & Brothers. 8vo. pp. 111.

Fred and Maria and Me. By the author of "The Flower of the Family.” Illustrated. New York: Charles Scribner & Co. Square 16mo. pp. 71. The Struggle for Life; or, Broad Court and Langdale. A Story of Home. By Lucretia P. Hale. With an Introduction by Rev. E. E. Hale. Boston: A. Williams & Co. 4th Edition. pp. 311.

MISCELLANEOUS.

A Journey in Brazil. By Professor and Mrs. Louis Agassiz. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 8vo. pp. 540. (This large and very handsome volume

has the somewhat level interest, and the assuring air of authenticity, which belong to journals and letters presented in their original and hardly altered shape. The journey is the one which the timely bounty of Mr. Thayer converted from a vacation tour to a scientific expedition of first-rate interest and importance. Besides its service to special students, its revelations of the great Amazon region, and of its resources for commerce, give it a practical and unique value. The reader's satisfaction would have been increased by the reduction of the volume to about half the size.)

The Far East; or, Letters from Egypt, Palestine, and other Lands of the Orient. Illustrated with Engravings, Maps, &c. By N. C. Burt, D.D. Cincinnati: R. W. Carroll & Co. 12mo. pp. 396.

Ambas Americas, Revista de Educacion, Bibliografia i Agricultura, bajo los auspicios de D. F. Sarmiento. Vol. I. Nueva York: Hallet y Breen. pp. 120. (That the example of the United States may do some service to the magnificently endowed but troubled and hapless states of South America, has been one special aim of Mr. Sarmiento's admirable efforts. The Review, whose title we copy above, it is needless to add, is a feature in this plan; and consists mainly of facts and details showing the working of our systems of public instruction. But the reader will find interesting facts respecting the other half of our continent, in the correspondence, and in the account of the South-American schools.)

Annual Reports on Education. By Horace Mann. Boston: Horace B. Fuller. pp. 758. (Although this volume contains only those parts of Mr. Mann's celebrated "Reports" which have a permanent value, it is very striking to see how full, ample, and abundant material it gives. It is the record of perhaps the most interesting and decisive period of discussion which our school system has undergone, and is a noble monument of its author's industry and fidelity. Mr. Mann's mind was never content without making his argument a treatise: he needed to instruct as well as to convince; and the Annual Report grew into a sort of "general lesson," delivered to all the schools of the Commonwealth. Considering how much elementary instruction had to be given, one is surprised to find how much of it retains its freshness and value. That of 1842, for instance, is one of the best popular treatises we have on physiology and hygiene; while that of 1843 contains, perhaps, the most full, vivid, and dramatic account to be found of the European schools and their methods; and, in particular, gave to our public its first knowledge of the teaching of deaf mutes orally, a topic of so much interest and discussion still. The volume is a permanent and valuable addition to our library of reference on the subject it treats.)

The Uncommercial Traveller, and Additional Christmas Stories. By Charles Dickens. With original Illustrations by S. Eytinge, Jr. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. pp. 382. (Fourteenth and closing volume of the “Diamond Edition," announced as "the most complete and authentic" edition of Mr. Dickens's writings. As a unique feature, this volume contains a "synopsis," occupying nearly a hundred pages, of the "characters introduced and

principal incidents in the works of Charles Dickens,”- a great convenience with writings so very voluminous, and a curious record of that exuberant genius. For occasional reading of a chapter or two, the small type is no objection; for neatness, compactness, and general good taste, this edition is quite equal to any.)

Leaves from the Journal of our Life in the Highlands from 1848 to 1861. To which are prefixed and added Extracts from the same Journal, giving an account of Earlier Visits to Scotland, and Tours in England and Ireland, and Yachting Excursions. Edited by Arthur Helps. New York: Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 287.

Selections from the Kalevala. Translated from a German version, by John A. Porter, M.D., late Professor in Yale College. With an Introduction, and Analysis of the Poem. New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 16mo. pp. 148.

Histoire d'une Bouchée de Pain. L'Homme. Par Jean Macé. With a French and English Vocabulary, and a List of Idiomatic Expressions. New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 12mo. pp. 260.

A Manual of the Art of Prose Composition, for the use of Colleges and Schools. By J. M. Bonnell, D.D., President Wesleyan Female College, Macon, Ga. Louisville: John P. Morton & Co. 12mo. pp. 359.

Duff's Book-keeping, by Single and Double Entry, including all the latest Improvements in the Science, with a copious Index. By P. Duff. New York: Harper & Brothers. 8vo. pp. 398.

Salome a Dramatic Poem. By J. C. Heywood. New York: Hurd & Houghton. pp. 222. (A drama of the time of the Destruction of Jerusalem, and the early Christian persecutions. Vigorous and poetic.)

The Friendships of Women. By William Rounseville Alger. Boston: Roberts Brothers. pp. 416. (This very pleasing little book has already, within two months, passed to a third edition, a proof of appreciation among a large class of readers, which we are glad to notice. There is no purer moral influence, and no finer ideal of life, than are found in the friendships it records.)

The Queens of American Society. By Mrs. Ellet. With Portraits. New York: Charles Scribner & Co. 8vo. pp. 464.

Easy French Reading: being Selections of Historical Tales and Anecdotes, arranged with copious Foot-notes, &c., &c. By Professor Edward T. Fisher. To which is added, A Brief French Grammar. By C. J. Delille. New York: Leypoldt & Holt. 16mo. pp. 232.

A Smaller History of England, from the earliest times to the year 1862. Edited by William Smith, LL.D. Illustrated by Engravings on Wood. New York: Harper & Brothers. 16mo. pp. 357.

A French Country Family. By Madame De Witt, née Guizot. Translated by Dinah Mulock Craik. Illustrated. New York: Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 216.

The Social and Political Dependence of Women. Boston: William V. Spencer. pp. 86. (Mainly a recast of the admirable arguments of John Stuart Mill and Mrs. Mill.)

THE

CHRISTIAN EXAMINER.

MAY, 1868.

ART. I. - EMERSON, SPENCER, AND MARTINEAU.

IT is always a grateful duty to think of our spiritual benefactors. In going over the list, we first recall our parents, followed by our personal teachers and friends. Then we remember the great lights of philosophy and literature, such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Hafiz, Dante, Des Cartes, Spinoza, Lessing, Goethe, Kant, Schiller, Fichte, Hobbes, Bacon, Milton, Shakespeare, -with whom so many halcyon hours of study and joy have been passed, banqueting with gods on the ambrosia and nectar of the mind. Next, a thoughtful acknowledgment must be made for fruitful influence and varied pleasure to many marked authors who have flourished in the present century, represented by such names as Coleridge, Scott, Byron, Wordsworth, Bulwer, Richter, Carlyle, Mill, Comte, Hamilton, Tennyson, Humboldt, Bunsen, Channing, Dewey.

But it is to three contemporary men, each of commanding genius in his own way, that we are, for ourselves, conscious of the deepest debt. We refer to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herbert Spencer, and James Martineau. To the first of these, though owing much else, we feel chiefly indebted for stimulus, or electrifying curiosity; to the next, for instruction, a steady enlightenment; to the last, for inspiration, which is united stimulus and instruction vitalized by something higher still.

VOL. LXXXIV. -NEW SERIES, VOL. V. NO. III.

23